With the constant influx of projects, having a resource of listening pleasures is absolutely conducive to creativity for us. With that said, we’ve recently been listening to a lot of Apparat, and I must say, on a personal level, this has helped me concentrate soooooo much. Especially this EP titled: “Silizium.”

One particular track that really stood out to us was the BUS remix of Apparat’s title track “Silizium.” This track really puts things into perspective as far as listening pleasures evoking nostalgic, dream like design pieces. This track starts off with a very minimal, but almost melancholy melody that is pretty consistent throughout the track; followed by a beat that sounds like it was supposed to be an homage to classic dub cuts. I’m sure you’ll have a better idea of what I’m talking about if you just listen.

Enjoy

- m / Colorcubicâ„¢

I apologize for not posting anything recently. We’ve been busy wrapping several projects that keeping up on our posts just didn’t quite fall into the “high priority” category. That being said, we have had the pleasure of working diligently whilst our ears have been massaged by the Velcro Fastener “deep : inside” compilation. It’s amazing how hard it is to find a decent compilation that is conducive to creativity, especially nowadays, where everyone is so ADD. It seems that people are more interested in releasing a lot of mediocre records, instead of releasing a few REALLY GOOD ones. Anyway, it’s hard to pinpoint one particular artist from this compilation that really stands out. I mean, just look at what you have to choose from:

• Authecre

• Fujiya & Miyagi

• Mr. Velcro Fastener

• Mouse On Mars

and many others. This whole compilation is brilliant from start to finish. Fortunately, Mouse On Mars (above all else) really seems to stick with me personally when I’m plugging away. Their music just seems so appropriate that I had to post their track, “Pinwheel Herman.” It’s so quirky, and yet I can relate so easily. Well, I hope you enjoy these listening pleasures. In the interim, we’ll be sure to prep our finished works and post them here for preview if anyone is interested.

Happy listening

- m / Colorcubicâ„¢

Well, I went ahead and jumped on the bandwagon to remix Radiohead’s hit single titled “Nude”, under my moniker Masmöd. Apparently this is supposed to be some kind of competition, but I’m just doing it for fun. If you wanna vote for me that would be dope, but no obligations.

Anyway, enjoy

- m / Colorcubic™ / Masmöd™

There is nothing better than designing on a Sunday evening in Portland, Oregon with the sun setting, all while listening to a down-tempo compilation that helps ease my day towards its expiration. This is one compilation I never grow tired of listening to. I can actually listen to this comp from start to finish, (and it’s a double disc, which is even more amazing to me). The compilation is titled: “Putting the Morr back in Morrissey“, and is released on the Morr Music label. Each track on this compilation was influenced in one way or another by an existing Morrissey song. One track that really stands out to me over all others on this compilation is a track titled: “Delc:R” by Arovane. I’ve always been a really big fan of Arovane, and how he manages to make any time of day beautiful when you listen to his work. I would highly suggest picking this up if you can find it. The design and layout are pretty dope as well. I really love how simple it is, and how it’s so complimentary to the music. The credit for the design direction goes to: Jan Kruse from o8 Design.

Anyway, be sure to give it a listen.

Peace

- m / Colorcubicâ„¢

First off let me say, this record is a MUST HAVE in any music library. Secondly, if you don’t know who Charles Atlas is than you’re doing something incredibly wrong. The great thing about this record is that it’s a Charles Atlas remix compilation of the album “Worsted Weights”, featuring local PDXers such as: *Strategy, and *Nudge, as well as international electronic artists and producers like: *Isan. The photographs and design direction are pretty dope as well and really compliment the sound of the record.

One of my favorite tracks on this entire compilation is a remix by Strategy (Paul Dickow) titled: “One Foot Under.”

If you follow any releases by Strategy than I’m sure you’ll know that he usually always hits the mark with emotional sound content. The “One Foot Under” remix is no exception. If none of what I’ve said means anything to you, than the only thing I have left to suggest is to give it a listen and judge for yourself.

Enjoy

- m / Colorcubicâ„¢

This was a poster we designed for an electronic / ambient music event at JCafe in PDX, Oregon. It was actually one that I performed at under my moniker “masmöd.” It was pretty low key, but still really fun to do.

We ran with ITC Avant Garde Gothic for the type. I think it turned out pretty well for the little amount of time we had to hash this out.

Enjoy,

- m / Colorcubicâ„¢

Christy and I were in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho last summer. If you’ve ever been then you’ll know that there isn’t much to do. If you plan on staying longer then a day then you’ll probably end up seeing everything there is to see in that day, and spend the rest of your time repeating that day over and over again.

Anyway, we decided to spend our time looking for rare finds at the local thrift stores, and record stores.

On top of finding some really dope records, I scored this practically new “Casio SK-1″ for only $4.00. It was originally $8.00, but Christy’s father thought that was too much for the SK-1, and he rubbed off the price, and then proceeded to negotiate the price down to $4.00. Pretty funny shit actually, but again I’m getting off topic.

If you’re familiar with the SK-1 then you’ll know why I’m so excited that I found this. This keyboard is so underrated. It’s not only amazing on it’s own, but it’s also a brilliant machine to circuit bend, although I don’t plan on circuit-bending mine until I can find another one. I’d like to keep one intact.

This keyboard has a sampling feature that allows you to sample anything, but for a limited time.

You can then save your samples and use them for quick reference during a live set, or a recording.

Now what I’ve heard people do to the SK-1 after circuit-bending it is pretty phenomenal as well, and if you’re really into circuit-bending devices then I would refer you to try circuit bending an SK-1, but if you only have one then I would refer you to NOT circuit bend it. Instead, save it until you find another one, otherwise look for another keyboard to circuit-bend as the SK-1 is no longer in production.

Anyway, I hope you found this post to be at least somewhat useful and informative.

peace,

- m / Colorcubicâ„¢

I’ve been into the whole circuit bending mess for a little while.

I’ve messed with a few toys here and there, but nothing I’m really happy with. My buddy “Air Fortress” has bent some really dope shit that is really impressive. He bent this one toy guitar and adapted it to emulate a theremin.

Anyway, a really good book that I would refer anyone to read who’s just getting involved with circuit bending is this book by: Reed Ghazala “the Father of circuit-bending.”

The book cover and graphics are a bit to be desired, but the book is really informative, and will help you along your way to building advanced circuit bent hardware.

The main reason I posted this was due to my never ending exploration of new sounds for sound designing and electronic music. I’m sure if you read this book it’ll give you a whole new perspective on producing beats, etc…

Peace,

-m / Colorcubicâ„¢

Here’s an Ad from the “fling” publication that we thought we should add to our posts.

We were pretty impressed with the layout, and use of type. The logo is not bad either. One detail I think they could have done without is the little white box with the thumbnails of the watch. I personally think it takes away from the overall aesthetic.

It’s still an impressive ad, and a stepping stone in the direction in which a lot of AD designers nowadays should look toward. It’s minimal, using the product as a “mascot” to sell the buyer, and they weren’t afraid to use small type.

I’ve noticed a lot of AD designers seem to be discouraged, or even concerned with type being smaller than 12pt.

I always feel that it’s the aesthetics that will reel the reader in close enough to read the small type, leaving the type to enhance the graphics from far away, instead of taking away from it, potentially competing for space.

This is obviously just a subjective opinion of mine, but in the end it’s what sells the product that counts.

- m / Colorcubicâ„¢

So Christy and I were researching old publications, and the comparison to old media vs. new media. We just happened to stumble upon this dope Adult magazine publication called “Flingâ„¢” from back in the day.

We traced it all the way back to 1957, but we noticed that the company kept changing their logo every decade, (give or take a year or two).

Anyway, we feel that the best decade with the best brand identity for this publication was during the early 1970s to the late 1970s. We were so impressed with it that we had to buy one and add it to our library.

When we received it, not only did we discover that the layout was brilliant, (inside and out), but their topics were relatively mild, laced with humor, and also very educational. Now I know this may seem a bit far from “classy”, but this is a perfect example of not judging a book by it’s cover.

Regardless if you’re into pornography or not… if you’re into design, or you’re into branding, layout, typography, or illustrations, you need to pick up a copy of this. You can find it on ebay for approximately $25.00

In my opinion it’s worth every penny.

- m / Colorcubicâ„¢

Don’t miss this 3rd installment of DIS-ORDER TECHNOLOGY, Friday, September 14th at APOTHEKE®.

Apotheke is located at 1314 NW Glisan, Suite 2A above the restaurant Andina.

Brought to you by: COLORCUBIC®
Sponsored by: KPSU® (Portland’s College Radio Station).

Featuring:
DJ ATTABOY a.k.a POINDEXTA
WHITE CAR
MASMÖD
GEJIUS
SLEEPYHEAD

DIS-ORDER TECHNOLOGY
WERD!!!!!

Event name: “Dis-Order Technology”

Date:
Location: Apotheke
1314 N.W. Glisan, suite# 2A
Portland, Oregon 97209
(503) 241-7866
Dis-Order Technology is a monthly Audio / Visual event brought to you by: C3 Audio and Colorcubic, Hosted by: Apotheke, and Sponsored by KPSU. Our goal is to showcase up&coming Electronic Music producers, and VJ’s in the NW, and to potentially attract reputable Electronic / IDM music producers and VJ’s from all over the globe.

Hope to see you there!